“What’s the point of paying for a subscription?”: You’ll see AI-generated ads on Netflix by 2026, company says

Are AI-generated ads the next frontier for Netflix? The company says yes.

Netflix already set off an internet firestorm last year when it introduced a $7.99 per month ad-supported subscription tier. Now it’s set to introduce AI-generated ads starting in 2026.

On X, @CultureCrave shared the news in a viral post. The ads will be “designed to match the show or movie being watched,” the account wrote. “Some will appear as midroll ads or during pause breaks. Will roll out to all countries with the ad-supported tier.”

Ad-supported users haven't pressed pause since the streamer introduced the option. Amy Reinhard, president of advertising, announced the introduction of AI advertisements in Netflix's second annual upfront to advertisers. She said ad-supported users spend roughly 41 hours a month streaming—or scrolling—on Netflix.

Netflix subscribers are outraged

One X user asked, “What’s the point of paying for a subscription if you have to watch ads?

A second joked, “Netflix had a good run. Now it’s time for it to go to heaven and be reunited with Blockbuster.”

A third user said, “They JUST made a Black Mirror episode detailing why this is bad.”

However, not every X user was against the change.

One wrote, “I think it’s great. There’s two things everybody needs to remember. 1) Modern commercials suck. 2) Commercials used to be tailored to the audience they were for. There’s no way they’ll be good, but I would rather take AI customizing the show I’m watching than ‘safe funny’ corpo insurance ad #37.”

Someone else argued, “If they’re not good, why would they be better than the current version of ads? Ads targeting hasn’t changed; they’ve always had this same spectrum of out of tune and right on the money commercials.”

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The post “What’s the point of paying for a subscription?”: You’ll see AI-generated ads on Netflix by 2026, company says appeared first on The Daily Dot.

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